Coal Facts

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Coal Facts are basic information and data related to coal-fired electricity. The facts are mostly drawn from independent sources like DOE’s Energy Information Administration. These coal facts are divided into eight sections:

Electricity Sources: How does coal match up with other sources of electricity?

Coal Fleet: How many coal-fired power plants operate around the U.S. and how much generating capacity do they provide?

Electricity Prices: How do electricity prices in states that use more coal compare with prices in states that use less coal?

Coal and Natural Gas Prices: How does the price of coal used for electricity generation compare to that of natural gas?

Cleaner Coal: How have coal-burning power plants reduced emissions?

States: Which states rely on coal for electricity generation and what states generate the most electricity from coal?

Domestic Coal: What are U.S. coal reserves and production? In which states is coal mined??

Global Coal: How does the world use coal as an energy source?

Our updated Coal Facts (through May 2017) show that coal-based generation continues to play a major role in the U.S. electricity mix, and will continue to do so for the next few decades. States where coal comprises a larger share of power generation pay less, on average, for electricity.

Recently, we wrote a blog showing how PJM relied on its coal fleet during the so-called Bomb Cyclone. Since we wrote the PJM blog, we’ve reviewed similar data from MISO (PDF). These two RTO/ISOs collectively include 127,000 megawatts (MW) of coal-fueled generating capacity, roughly half the nation...